Google engineer used confidential info to win – Business News
A longtime Google security engineer has been accused of utilizing confidential company knowledge to place illicit Polymarket bets that received him $1.2 million – the newest alleged case of insider trading on a prediction market, in accordance to federal prosecutors.
Michele Spagnuolo, 36, an Italian citizen dwelling in Switzerland who has labored at Google since 2014, has been charged with one rely every of commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, in accordance to a criticism unsealed in New York City on Wednesday.
Under a Polymarket account named “AlphaRaccoon,” the techie allegedly made a sequence of bets between October and December of final 12 months utilizing confidential Google search knowledge that reaped more than $1.2 million – after which took steps to attempt to cowl his tracks, prosecutors alleged.
Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo has been charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. X/@mikispag
Spagnuolo received huge after appropriately wagering that D4vd – the singer accused of brutally killing and dismembering a 14-year-old lady with a chainsaw – could be Google’s most-searched individual of the 12 months in 2025, in accordance to the criticism.
At the time the “AlphaRaccoon” account made a $381.12 wager on D4vd, Polymarket had “assigned a near-zero probability” of the singer rising because the most-searched individual, legal paperwork mentioned.
But inner Google search knowledge that Spagnuolo had allegedly accessed simply three hours earlier than making the wager confirmed D4vd had changed frontrunner Kendrick Lamar as the highest searched individual of the 12 months, in accordance to prosecutors.
“Once he won, Spagnuolo then took deliberate steps to conceal his unlawful use of nonpublic information by attempting to obscure the source and ownership of his unlawful proceeds,” the criticism mentioned.
Google instructed The Post that Spagnuolo was ready to entry the company data via “a tool available to all employees,” however the use of that knowledge to make wagers is a coverage violation.
“We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation,” a Google spokesperson mentioned in a assertion. “We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action.”
A spokesperson for Polymarket mentioned the company stays dedicated to truthful and clear markets, in addition to imposing its guidelines towards insider trading.
Spagnuolo allegedy used confidential company knowledge to place illicit Polymarket bets. X/@mikispag
“Polymarket worked closely with the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York and the [Commodity Futures Trading Commission], and is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States,” the spokesperson instructed The Post.
It’s the second prison case involving alleged insider trading on Polymarket.
A US soldier was charged in April with utilizing categorized data to rake in more than $400,000 from Polymarket bets across the timing of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s seize.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer final week demanded data from the CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket amid mounting accusations of authorities insiders utilizing inner data to revenue off the Iran conflict and different political occasions.
Spagnuolo has labored at Google since 2014, in accordance to a criticism. Getty Images
Both Kalshi and Polymarket vowed to interact with the committee.
In February, exercise surged on Polymarket as suspected insiders made more than $1 million from contracts tied to the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran – together with an alleged $550,000 windfall associated to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is reportedly investigating a batch of suspiciously well-timed oil trades value more than $800 million that had been made simply moments earlier than Trump halted strikes on Iranian infrastructure in March.
Spagnuolo didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
“Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” Jay Clayton, US lawyer for the Southern District of New York, mentioned in a Wednesday assertion.
“Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.”
